1mo ago

Learning a new language is easy!

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How a normal Mexican American misunderstands via conversations with actual Germans...say you got an avocado... Now add salt, its a saltiavocado. Add vinegar, its a saltyvinegaravocado. Now step on it while running and you just "slippedonavinegaravocado" or you had an "avocadoslip".
I call bullshit. Bullshit doesn't come.
- Say you got a pen ... Now add apple, it's a applepen. Say you got a pen ... Now add pineapple, you got pineapplepen.
  
  That's going to be in my head for a while. Bastard.
- Meanwhile there is many words that are just two words in english instead of a compound word.
  Lets take a typical example for "business" compound-words:
  IT-Sicherheitsdienstleister -> IT security service provider.
  
  I don't know about German, but in Swedish it looks really messy if you sunder your compound words. In general I think people know what you mean regardless, but you can end up with peculiar double meanings. There are plenty of signs, notes, and what have you that people have posted online for a laugh.
  Off the top of my head
  Gå lättpackad i fjällen
  Travel lightly (as in luggage) in the mountains
  
  Gå lätt packad i fjällen
  Travel slightly intoxicated in the mountains
  
  Sjukgymnast
  Physiotherapist
  
  Sjuk gymnast
  Diseased/Sick gymnast
  Addendum. Sjuk could also be used as an emphasizer just like in English. Think "bro that's a sick outfit" kind of thing, so it could be read as "awesome gymnast"
  
  Årets sista svenskodlade tulpaner
  The last Swedish-grown tulips of the year
  
  Årets sista svensk odlade tulpaner
  The last Swede of the year cultivated tulips
  
  It's also worth noting that the tones can be different, so if you "hear" the words as you read them, then "lättpackad" and "lätt packad" sounds different.
  
  That's very interesting that sick/sjuk have the same slang meaning, thanks.
  
  Yeah! I wonder if it's because of the prevalence of English media here in Sweden. We unlike the Germans don't really do much dubbing unless the target audience is children/families.
- English has large compounds like this too, we just usually add spaces and/or hyphens so it doesn't look quite as extreme when written out.
  
  We tend to limit it to two words most of the time, and most compound words in English are Germanic in origin.

128 comments